Opec May Keep Quotas Steady

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, supplier of more than a third of the world's oil, may scrap an increase in oil quotas set for Aug. 1 because of falling prices, OPEC officials said.

Oil has slid 16 percent to $36 a barrel in New York since the group in early June agreed to boost output targets by 2 million barrels as of July 1, with another increase of 500,000 barrels to occur on Aug. 1. Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, said prices have reached a "fair" level, and Nigeria's top OPEC official said raising quotas in August may be a mistake.

OPEC's June accord came a day after New York crude peaked at $42.45 a barrel, the highest in more than two decades of futures trading.

New York crude was up 44 cents at $36.10 a barrel. In London, Brent crude oil gained 51 cents to $33.62 a barrel.

OPEC's quota rises to 25.5 million barrels a day tomorrow under the June accord.